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This refers to children’s general language development. There are many similarities between learning one’s mother tongue and learning a foreign
language in spite of differences in age and the time available. So far no body has found a universal pattern of language learning which everyone agrees
with. Much seems to depend on which mother tongue the pupils speak and on social and emotional factors in the child’s background. What is clear here is
that most eight to ten years olds will have some sort of language awareness and readiness which they bring with them into the foreign language classroom.
C. Direct Instruction
1. Overviewing Direct Instruction
A general overview of the direct instruction model uses the analytical scheme introduced in the introduction, which provides the following features:
· The model’s instructional goals and effects the model has on learners
including required assessment procedures. ·
The model’s syntax or overall pattern and flow of instructional activity. ·
The model’s learning environment and management system required to make particular lessons employing it effective.
James M. Wolf 2000: 373 says that direct instruction has its theoretical origins in the behavioral family, particularly in the thinking of training and
behavioral psychologists. Training psychologists have focused on training people to perform complex behaviors that involve a high degree of precision and often
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coordination with others- for example being a crew member on a submarine. Their main contributions to learning situations are task definition and task analysis. The
instructional design principles they propose focus on conceptualizing learner performance into goals and tasks, breaking this into smaller component tasks,
developing training activities that ensure mastery of each subcomponent, and, finally arranging the entire learning situation into sequences that ensure adequate
transfer from one component to another and achievement of pre- requisite learning before more advanced learning.
2. Instructional Goals and Learners Outcomes
Learning theories normally distinguish between two types of knowledge: declarative knowledge and procedural knowledge Marx Winne, 1994; Ryle,
1949; Gagne, 1977; Gagne, 1985. Declarative verbalizable knowledge is knowledge about something or that something is the case. Procedural knowledge,
on the other hand, is knowledge about how to do something. An example of declarative knowledge is knowledge about the three branches of government: that
the legislative branch has two chambers the house and senate and that representatives to the house are elected to 6 years terms. Procedural knowledge
about this same topic is knowledge about, if one is a citizen, how to got the polling place and vote on Election Day and how to write a letter to a senator, how
to guide a bill through the senate until it becomes a law. According to Arends 1997: 66 the direct instruction model was specially
designed to promote student learning of procedural knowledge and declarative
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knowledge that is well structured and can be taught in a step- by- step fashion. Table 1.1 illustrates instructional objectives aimed at promoting the acquired of
basic declarative knowledge and straightforward procedural knowledge and compares this type of objective with those that promote social learning and
higher- level thinking. Differences can be observed in the various types of objectives listed in
table 1.1. For instance, the first objective expects the student to be able to identify the rules of ice hockey. This is important declarative knowledge for students who
wish to be involved in the game. However, being able to identify the rules does not mean that the student can perform any skills associated with hockey like
passing on the move, the content of the procedural knowledge found in column 2. Further, neither knowing the rules nor having specific hockey skills will
necessarily lead to being a good teammate or to bringing critical judgment to the way the sport is conducted, the aim of the objectives found in column 3 and 4.
Direct instruction is a suitable approach to instruction when the teacher wants students to learn particular skills or straightforward declarative knowledge such as
those found in columns 1 and 2. It is a teacher- centered model that has five steps: set induction, demonstration, guided practice, feedback and extended practice.
There are five essential phases or steps in most direct instruction lesson. The teacher begins the lesson by providing a rationale for the lesson, establishing set,
getting students ready to learn. This preparation and motivational phase is then followed by presentation of the subject’s matter being taught or demonstration of
a particular skill. The lesson concludes with opportunities for student’s practice
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and teacher feedback on their progress. During the practice- feedback phase of this model, teacher should always try to provide opportunities for students to
transfer the knowledge or skill being taught to real life situations. The five phases of the direct instruction models are summarized in table 1.2.
Table 1.1 Sample Direct Instruction Objectives Compared To Social Learning or Higher- level Thinking Objectives
Acquisition of
Basic Knowledge
Skill Acquisition Social
understanding Higher level
Students will be able to list the
basic rules of hockey
Students will be able to pass while
moving Students will
display cooperation
while playing a hockey game
Students will express an
opinion in regard to the
presence of violence in
hockey
Table 1.2 Syntax of the Direct Instruction Model Phases
Teacher Behavior Phase 1 Teacher goes over objectives for the lesson,
Provide objective and gives background information and explains Establish the set why the lesson is important. Get students
ready to learn.
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Phase 2 Teacher demonstrates the skill correctly or Demonstrate knowledge or presents step by step information
Skill Phase 3 Teacher structures initial practice
Provide guided practice Phase 4 Teacher checks to see if students are performing
Check understanding and correctly and provides feedback. Provide feedback
Phase 5 Teacher sets conditions for extended practice Provide extended practice with attention to transfer to more complex and
and transfer real life situation.
3. Learning Environment and Management System
